Originally Posted by
Rated De
Quite right CT.
A little bit of product placement (The Qantas reference) is the bait...The fine print tells a different story...The switch sees the newly indebted graduate at any of the increasing number of entities flying derelict machines for less money than the glossy brochure intimated.
Caveat emptor.
Is there a better option?
Airline job logging multi-crew hours from day one. Onto a 6 figure salary quite quickly. Employed within Australia's major airline group. Quicker to to command, major airline or jet employment.
Alternative: No guaranteed work upon graduation. Multitude of casual or non permanent GA jobs to begin with. Spend an indefinite number of years there before getting into a major airline group. Any saving on training costs would be quickly offset by lower wages. Fly aircraft that are definitely more derelict than option A.
A quick look around shows the cost of an average CPL in Australia roughly about $70k, IR about $20k, and ATPL theory and MCC about $5k each.
From the FTA website it's about $125k from zero to CPL, IR, ATPL and MCC as part of their Academy course.
Not too much of an extra expense for a more defined career path IMHO.